THOUSANDS of York residents have called for an early General Election.

They have joined more than 2.5 million Britons signing an online petition seeking such a move.

The move comes amid growing dissatisfaction at Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour government, which was only elected in July with a huge Parliamentary majority, securing 9.7 million votes and 412 seats of 650 seats in the House of Commons.

By 9am this morning, the petition called by Midlands pub landlord Michael Westwood was approaching 2.6million signatures nationally.

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It said: “I would like there to be another General Election.

“I believe the current Labour Government have gone back on the promises they laid out in the lead up to the last election.”

His tally compares with a petition in 2019 which called for Brexit to be cancelled and secured a record 6.3million signatures.

(Image: Pic supplied)

Typically, Conservative supporting rural North and East Yorkshire is keener on a fresh poll, than Labour-supporting York.

By 9am, some 2,704 had signed the petition in York Central, constituency of Rachael Maskell MP, around 2.5% of the electorate- about one-on-forty of them.

In York Outer, 3,695 had signed the petition, the former Conservative seat of Julian Sturdy, which was won in July by Labour’s Luke Charters. This amount represented around 4 per cent or one-in-25 of the electorate.

However, in Thirsk and Malton, held by Shadow Business Secretary Kevin Hollinrake, 6,307 had petitioned for a general election, about 6.5% or one-in-15 of the electorate.

York Central Labour MP Rachael Maskell told the Press that while some may not accept the election result, which followed “14 years of chaos,” the results of the ‘very difficult decisions’ Labour was taking, was no reason to have an election after 5 months.

She told the Press: “Labour’s commitment to the public remains rock solid, however it would be true to say that the state the Government left our national finances in is worse that the Office of Budget Responsibility had assessed and likewise with the other Government Departments.

“It was therefore imperative that Labour Ministers undertook a full appraisal of the state of the country when entering office and some very difficult decisions had to be made to prevent a further recession.

“I have highlighted that I believe that Government should have made different choices on certain aspects, like the Winter Fuel Payments, to address the inequality that many are facing. Greater rationale as to how we use economic decisions to not only stabilise the economy, but to address the deep levels of poverty are needed so that those with the broadest shoulders carry us forward, while others are protected.”

However, the MP added it is healthy for people to raise their concerns and important for governments of all stripes to listen. She urged people to “feed into the Comprehensive Spending Review process, which will be a better test as to how the new Government is progressing on its election commitments.”

Luke Charters, who gained York Outer for Labour in July said: “A tiny number of York residents—and very high numbers of bots from overseas—have signed this petition.

“As someone born and raised in York, it's a privilege to serve as York Outer MP, elected in July with a 9,000-strong majority as part of a historic Labour government.

“With over four years until the next General Election, we're focused on making the tough decisions to rebuild our country. I’m committed to being a visible and accessible MP—if you'd like to share your views or book a surgery, please don’t hesitate to get in touch."

Thirsk and Malton Conservative MP Kevin Hollinrake said he had signed the petition, knowing it won’t lead to an early election.

He told the Press: “The petition clearly demonstrates the public anger with this government and justifiably so.”

Mr Hollinrake says an election won’t realistically happen until 2028-29, when the Labour Party wants one.

He added: “The campaign rumbles on. We won’t forget the farmers, pensioners, small businesses, workers. They are all suffering at the hands of this government. We [Conservatives] are doing all we can to hold them [Labour] to account.”

 

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